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Researchers have developed high-efficiency photocatalysts that convert carbon dioxide into methane or ethane with graphene-covered reduced titanium dioxide. The finding is expected to be utilized in the carbon dioxide reduction and recycling industries.

Transitions. We all face them in our lives, whether it’s the start of a new job, a move to a new city, the addition of a family member or retirement. No matter what the transition is and when it happens, they mean the same thing: change. Change can be scary and unsettling, but it can also be exciting and inspiring. For Team USA athletes, transition often means retirement. But did you know that many members of Team USA do not get to choose when they retire? Whether they “age out” of sport, get injured, or don’t make it all the way, athletes retire—some when they’re not ready to “give up” their sport.

Athletes who realize the Olympic dream and actually earn a spot on Team USA are among an elite group. In the last Olympics, the chance of making the U.S. Olympic swim team was .0013%. You have better odds of making the NFL at .03%. Even if you’re in the top tier and do make the team, very few athletes end up with Olympic medals. In many cases, the difference between an Olympic medal and a non-medal finish can be less than a tenth of a second.

Even after the best athletes retire, there’s a place where they have a chance to excel again: their new, non-athletic career. Now, the critical transition out of sport can last weeks, months and even years and it can be very difficult to navigate. Having to adjust your sense of self when you have been among the best in the world at what you do can be daunting. I have heard it compared to falling into a black hole or feeling like you are starting your life completely over at the bottom of the ladder. Some athletes have expressed they feel like they have reached the highest pinnacle in their life in their twenties or thirties and are concerned they will never feel as passionate about something again.

Fortunately, Adecco is here to help shine a light into that darkness. One of the goals of the USOC’s Athlete Career and Education (ACE) Program, in partnership with Adecco, is to help these high-performing athletes plan for that eventual transition while they are still training and competing.

They’re here to help former athletes prepare for their next big competition: the job market. Through ACE, Adecco’s team assists members of Team USA in creating a career development plan that can include the following:

Adecco career coaches can help foster the confidence some athletes often lack when transitioning out of sport and into their next career. The coaches help them develop skills and encourage them to dream big—again—just in a different setting. It’s a win-win situation.

The business world often uses the terms machine learning, deep learning, and artificial intelligence as interchangeable buzzwords. The problem? Each is uniquely different from its siblings. With so much terminology describing different pieces of the same AI puzzle, it’s easy to misunderstand various components.

AI has been around for decades in business and government, but it’s still a relatively new addition to many sectors. The lines between data science and machine learning begin to blur for those unfamiliar with the sector, but it’s increasingly important for professionals to understand this technology that’s changing our world.

For instance, Facebook uses AI to scan photos (as does Google) to match people and information with advertisers. Netflix uses this technology to recommend programming and drive its content decisions. You’d be hard-pressed to name a major brand that is not at least researching how to leverage and implement AI into its business model.

Before shopping around for solutions, it’s helpful to have some knowledge of the mechanics behind this seemingly magical technology.

How are Machine Learning and Deep Learning Related?

My team has worked with machine learning for the past two years. In fact, we were among the first developers to build an AI chatbot — ours is called ShoutOut — for Google Home. Our bot allows users to utilize verbal cues to dictate birthday cards to family and friends in about 60 seconds.

This software relies on powerful machine learning algorithms. We coded our chatbot to recognize names, phone numbers, and natural language messaging — it understands slang and contextual language, among other things. The more real-world data we fed the bot, the more feedback we could collect. Over time, the software learns and improves upon the results it gives.

Natural language processing (NLP) is a powerful segment of machine learning, enabling software to detect the nuances of human speech, both verbally and in text. According to a recent study, 40 percent of large businesses use NLP for tasks like data analytics and customer service.

Here’s where deep learning comes into play.

A deep learning algorithm is a subset of machine learning that stores massive amounts of data and sorts it into the right data set. As such, pattern recognition falls into the deep learning bucket.

Deep learning algorithms parse data to make informed decisions, serving as the basis of automation. Ever wonder why Netflix seems to predict the shows you’ll enjoy so accurately? Those recommendation engines have become so refined that more than 80 percent of the shows users watch on the service are because of a recommendation.

Google’s AlphaGo Zero is another great example of deep learning. AlphaGo Zero recently beat the world champion of the ancient Chinese game of Go. After taking down the best in the world, Zero continued to improve by playing games against itself and learning from those bouts. Not only is it considered the best in the world, but its neural network is also constantly getting smarter.

Imagine that technology transforming not only entertainment and competition, but also being leveraged by every industry. The potential is limitless — provided you’re ready to embrace this brave new world.

Applications and Advancements of AI

Still unsure whether you need to climb aboard the AI train? You don’t need to look far to find numerous examples of companies, both large and small, dipping their toes in the water. Global spending on AI system is expected to reach $46 billion by 2020, according to one study.

HubSpot, the very website you’re browsing now, has been investing in machine learning and artificial intelligence. HubSpot recently acquired Kemvi, a machine learning startup that’s developing a platform to help companies build deeper relationships with potential customers through the power of AI. In fact, Gartner estimates that 30 percent of companies will use AI in their sales department by 2020.

While Google TensorFlow and Amazon Web Services are the main developer tools being used in the AI arena, both platforms are still fairly complex. Thankfully, developers are busy creating plug-and-play applications that lower the barrier to entry for AI newcomers.

Remember that your AI efforts do not have to be overly complicated. The best place to start in terms of automation is manual processes that demand a significant administrative effort. Financial processes, data entry, fraud detection, and customer loyalty are only a few areas in which AI can make a tremendous difference.

Better Living Through Automation

By plugging several AI systems into your business, you can cut costs, raise productivity, and become a more efficient enterprise. Once machine learning takes on the bulk of your team’s busywork, people are liberated from mundane tasks and able to focus energy on innovation to drive the business forward.

In particular, your marketing team will appreciate the opportunity to spend more time on ideation rather than tedium. There is no shortage of automation in marketing, and there are plenty of tools already available to solve almost any problem.

Email marketing algorithms, for example, can determine content most likely to elicit specific responses. Platforms like Phrasee and Persado allow companies to use NLP to create automated subject lines, body copy, and calls to action.

These AI-generated headlines outperform humans 95 percent of the time, and the engagement rate of the content outperforms humans 100 percent of the time. That’s exponential improvement in just one marketing platform. Imagine the impact if you were able to roll out multiple tools at once!

AI and machine learning are going to unlock a whole new suite of tools to help marketers — and businesses in general — grow and excel. The true beauty of the plug-and-play AI solutions is the way that they complement each other. Due to their shared reliance on data, these platforms become smarter, more accurate, and efficient over time while adding more value to the business cycle. The AI revolution is underway, but the truly exciting advancements are yet to come. There’s never been a better time to explore the wealth of possibilities.

The Premier League is awash in money. The league signed a massive new television deal a few years ago, far and away the richest in Europe. Throw in a club like Manchester City, with an ownership group with such deep pockets, and it is no surprise that players in the English top flight are well compensated.

Thanks to data from Spotrac, we took a look at the 20 highest-paid players in the English Premier League. Of that group, Manchester City claims the most players, with six. Manchester United and Arsenal have four each, with United boasting three of the five highest-paid players in the league. Chelsea and Liverpool have two players each, while Tottenham Hotspur and, interestingly, West Ham United, have a solitary representative on the list.

Note: all the figures below have been converted from English pounds into American dollars.

T-19. Chicharito — $9,561,333.60Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

Club: West Ham United

Position: Forward

Age: 30

Contract: Heading into the second year of a three-year, $28,496,875.68 contract.

Country: Mexico

One thing to know: His name, Chicharito, stands for “little pea.” His father, also a professional soccer player, was nicknamed “pea.”

T-19. Ilkay Gundogan — $9,561,333.60Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

Club: Manchester City

Position: Midfielder

Age: 27

Contract: Heading into the third year of a four-year, $37,995,834.24 contract.

Country: Germany

One thing to know: Gundogan spent several seasons with Borussia Dortmund in Germany before coming to the Premier League.

T.-17 Raheem Sterling — $10,244,286Catherine Ivill/Getty Images

Club: Raheem Sterling

Position: Forward

Age: 23

Contract: Heading into the fourth year of a $50,887,278.00 contract.

Country: England

One thing to know: Sterling played for another Premier League club, Liverpool, before joining Man City in 2015.

Even though the iPhone was introduced over 11 years ago, there are still some issues with the hardware and software that keep it from being the best it can be. Default apps, proprietary cables, and fast charging are just a few of the problems the iPhone still has. Senior tech reporter Antonio Villas-Boas breaks down a few areas where the iPhone could improve. Following is a transcript of the video.

Antonio: It’s been 11 years since the very first iPhone has launched and the iPhone has improved tremendously over that time. However, there are a few things that still bother me, that just sort of don’t really make sense.

The cables. Let’s start with the cables. The new iPhones come with Lightning charging cables. Now, the weird thing is, only the iPhone and iPad use the Lightning cable. It doesn’t work with anything else. Whereas, for example, a USB-C cable, that works with a lot of things. And the other weird thing is, the USB cable doesn’t plug into the new MacBook Pros. I have an iPhone and out of the box, I cannot plug it into the new MacBook Pros. To me, this is absolutely nuts. It’s mind-boggling.See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Last month, Paris Hilton found herself in a familiar position, standing in front of a crowd of goading paparazzi decked out in bejeweled sunglasses and a shiny silver mini dress. But the conversation they were having was certainly not familiar to those who may think they know the heiress: “President Trump is going to sign the executive order to help the immigrants,” a voice yells out to her amidst the incessant pop of camera flashes. “Do you think that’s going to help?”

Hilton, who’s been the subject of paparazzi lust for almost two decades, is quick with an outspoken opinion: “He better help them, because this is not right what they’re doing to these children and their families … No one should be separated from their family. I’m disgusted,” she replies, turning her head to the side, revealing the weighty gold Gucci logo emblazoned on the arms of her glasses. She doesn’t stop signing autographs, but then looks directly into the camera and tells the world (or perhaps it’s her former family friend, Donald Trump, for whom she voted and to whom she is primarily speaking): “People come to America for the American Dream.”

This is TMZ’s contribution to the national debate over Trump’s family separation policy, and it feels both like a throwback to the tabloid-fueled chintziness of aughts-era Hollywood and a moment that could only occur in 2018. It is a surreal exchange for a litany of reasons, not least because of our collective understanding of who the woman in the sunglasses talking about immigration is: Paris Hilton is an icon not just of the 2000s, but of a certain widely held image of what inherited wealth, undeserved fame, and American excess looks like. There was her reality show The Simple Life, which followed Hilton and then-BFF Nicole Richie as they abandoned their lives of leisure to go live and work alongside “regular” Americans. Then there was also the numerous film and TV appearances, the singing career, the product lines, and the constant coverage by tabloids and early blogs. Through all this she crafted a persona — and, according to our conversation with her, that’s exactly what it was — of a spoiled, air-headed, platinum blonde princess, complete with the fake baby voice and sugary pseudo-sexuality that implies.

“I just got stuck with that character because people don’t know me in real life or haven’t spoken to me,” Hilton tells Refinery29. “They assume it’s just the baby voice and you know, ‘what’s Walmart?’ and silly things. I would say that’s not really how I am, but I was just trying to be entertaining for television.”

At 37, she’s been in and out of the spotlight for nearly two decades, and seems to be emerging now with a concerted effort to shake the image of the prodigal rich girl. How much it’s actually worked is in the eye of the beholder. “I think now I’ve really proven myself,” she argues. “With the success of my fragrances, then all my other 19 product lines, and all the big deals I’m doing, and real estate. I’m finally being taken seriously as a businesswoman and empire.”

While her grandfather donated 97 percent of his fortune to charity when he died in 2007, Paris currently has an estimated net worth of around $300 million. Her perfume empire alone is worth an estimated $1.5 billion. That it’s taken this long for Hilton to feel that she’s earned it says as much about the magnitude of her ambitions as it does about our fascination with money and how those who have it behave. Hilton was arguably the first person to turn her mere privileged existence into a lucrative career, a model copied today by many, but most famously mastered by Kim Kardashian (Paris’ old right hand) and her sisters. This year alone, Hilton released her 24th fragrance, launched a skincare line, and premiered a show on Viceland — of all places — where she examines the lives of young people attempting to “make it” in Hollywood. She also still DJs for nightly fees that, in 2014, were reported to be as high as $1 million per night, and dropped a new single titled “I Need You” earlier this year, though unfortunately it failed to live up to the success of her 2006 cult hit “Stars Are Blind.”

Yes, I came from Hilton hotels, but I’ve parlayed it into such a huge business that even my grandfather said to me, ‘I used to be known as Barron Hilton. Now I’m known as Paris Hilton’s grandfather.’

For all of today’s conversations about the spectrum of privilege and where certain people get placed on it, America either loves, or loves to hate, rich people. (Bonus points if they’re beautiful women with recognizable last names.) In thinking about Hilton, it’s hard not to call to mind another very privileged, very ambitious young woman: Ivanka Trump. In addition to being friends since childhood, both have monetized their moneyed backgrounds and our hunger for a piece of their world to sell a watered-down, mass-produced version of luxury. Paris’s numerous fragrances, like Ivanka’s now-defunct clothing line, are much less valuable because of the products themselves as they are because of the names behind them.

Hilton herself seems to understand this, saying of her new scent: “I really, I really want it to represent me and have my fans have a piece of me.” Nevermind that it smells like one of 2018’s least popular scents (roses), and has aggressively ignored the minimalist, millennial-friendly packaging her celebrity peers have adopted — Hilton’s confidence in her product reflects a confidence that rich-bitch wealth will always be relevant.

Indeed, even as her own star power has waxed and waned, the enormity of her legacy has come into focus: She is there in the fashion influencers filling your feed with their spon con. She is there among the stars of various reality television franchises, as they fling insults and beverages about on national TV. She is there among the socialite-turned-DJs-turned-fashion-designers that populate the most rarefied corners of the world, like Harley Viera-Newton and Alexa Chung.

“Ever since I was a teenager, I wanted to be independent. I didn’t want to have to ask my family for anything,” Hilton explains of her attitude toward money and privilege. “Yes, I came from Hilton hotels, but I’ve parlayed it into such a huge business that even my grandfather said to me, ‘I used to be known as Barron Hilton. Now I’m known as Paris Hilton’s grandfather.’”

When asked about the recent controversy surrounding Forbes magazine’s designation of Kylie Jenner, whom Hilton has known since birth, as “self-made,” she was adamant that she agrees with that characterization — and feels it applies to herself as well. “I think of myself and anyone who does business as being self-made. Everything I’ve done, I’ve done on my own, and yes, I do come from a last name, but there also are many children I know that come from families who, you know, take the choice of not doing anything with their lives.”

“I think of myself and anyone who does business as being self-made.

“I work harder and travel more than any CEO I’m friends with,” she continued. “The same with Kylie. I think any woman who is going to get into business and be an entrepreneur and make a big name and brand for themselves, they are self-made.”

Indeed, Hilton and Jenner probably do work harder and travel more than any CEO. Because while a traditional CEO is responsible for a particular product, what Hilton and Jenner are selling is more ephemeral and all-encompassing. The CEO of L’Oreal or MAC doesn’t have to prove that their entire existence is consistent with and can be distilled into a $30 lip kit or a $20 perfume. Perhaps the fact that this is a real career path is a small part of the reason why the American Dream to which Hilton refers in the video increasingly feels like just that — a hallucination from another plane of consciousness. If the American Dream, a flawed premise in and of itself, is about pulling yourself up by your bootstraps, what Hilton and Jenner have done is more like standing for a long period of time in Louboutins. It’s impressive, but you had to have the $1,000 down payment to get there.

Paris Hilton is not self-made, of course. But it’s not hard to imagine how people like Hilton, Jenner, and Kardashian — who recently echoed a sentiment similar in an interview with Refinery29 — are able to conceive of themselves as such. They are indeed a different breed from those born into immense privilege who make no attempt to move forward on the opportunities afforded to them. Hilton’s hustle is impressive, but it doesn’t make her self-made in the way that someone like Cardi B or Rihanna is. You can be hard-working and break barriers without being able to define yourself as self-made.

Hilton’s legacy is a complicated one predicated not just on a cultural obsession with rich girls, but on a sexist desire to tear apart and vilify them in a way that rarely occurs with men of similar means. Why are we so obsessed with the Kardashian sisters and not the Brant brothers?

When we spoke to Hilton over the phone, she sounded cool and self-assured. She has, in case you were weren’t aware, dropped the infamous little girl voice. Surprisingly though, like many who came of age in an era before smartphones and social media and celebrities with teams of people meticulously crafting every inch of their facades, she also holds a degree of nostalgia for that more freewheeling time. “I can’t imagine if I had social media back then,” she confesses, imagining how much more difficult her fame would have been to cultivate.

“I didn’t have all these tools. I didn’t have an agent, no publicist, no manager. I’m going out in public and just being myself and everyone used to say like, ‘Oh my God, famous for being famous’ and like it was almost a bad thing, but now I feel like it’s a whole new formula that has really inspired this whole new generation.”

Despite this, Hilton boasts 9.3 million followers on Instagram, and 17.2 million on Twitter. There are fan accounts out there dedicated not just to her, but to her pets. She’s not Kim Kardashian, who has 114 million Instagram followers, nor is she of the mold of Chrissy Teigen and Busy Phillips, two celebrities beloved for their highly relatable social media content. But people don’t follow Paris Hilton for the great content she’s going to post. They follow her because she’s Paris Hilton.

Critics have said that The Simple Life, the premise of which was dreamed up by Fox execs, functioned to mock the denizens of the small towns it featured, but one could just as easily argue that Hilton and Richie were the butt of the joke. It also flattened Hilton into the one-dimensional character that it appears the “real” her has spent the past decade struggling to emerge from. It is unavailable for streaming on any of the major sites, but exists in perpetuity on YouTube. What is supremely ironic about Hilton and her attempt to return to the spotlight is that the thing that initially beamed her into our living rooms was that she was such an effective agent in showcasing the great American class divide, a massive crater which has only widened in the decade following.

Indeed, Paris Hilton is truly not self-made. But more than her family’s wealth or her well-known last name, we made her.

While Twitter didn’t exist back then, tabloids and early blogs did, and as Hilton’s star rose, so too did the level of scrutiny placed on her. In 2004, just as Hilton was about to become a household name, her ex-boyfriend Rick Salomon released a pornographic video of her. Today, the video would be understood as revenge porn, but back then, it was somehow understood as attention-seeking on Hilton’s part. In The American Meme, a 2018 documentary she appeared in, she compared the ordeal to being raped and said she “literally wanted to die.” While illicit celebrity tapes still exist and get leaked, it’s thankfully no longer socially acceptable (in most places, at least) to slut-shame the women victimized by them. If anything, thanks to the ability of the internet to magnify a more diverse range of voices, people are quick to call out such injustices with hackers serving jail time.

“It’s incredible what is happening right now with this movement,” Hilton says of contemporary feminism. “I think women can take over the world. Even though there’s been so many awful things that have happened and scary things, it’s really just changed the whole climate, and what people know women are capable of.”

But there’s a big caveat: We know the capabilities of some women, the ones who have been provided with the advantages necessary to show us what they can do. Which is maybe why Hilton’s rebranding as a serious business woman feels complicated at best. What’s surprising, though, is that even now, her understanding of a concept like being self-made still seems so limited.

Nevertheless, critics would do well to remember that Hilton wouldn’t have become famous if we hadn’t wanted her to be. Indeed, Paris Hilton is truly not self-made. But more than her family’s wealth or her well-known last name, we made her.

And to hear her tell it, she’s grateful: “I feel so proud of my fanbase and how loyal they are. The relationship I have with my fans, they’re like my family. They call themselves the Little Hiltons, it’s such a loyal fanbase. They really can relate with me.”

Manufacturers used to determine pricing based on a physical item. Today, Industry 4.0 and the integration of software into products have brought new pricing approaches into the picture. But it’s not as simple as adding a fee for the software into the price. Software pricing and licensing is a whole new ballgame, involving licenses, users, renewals and support. Manufacturers may also have multiple versions of software that need to be tracked and updated.

In addition to new needs, there’s a huge opportunity. Instead of a one-off hardware sale, it’s much easier to adapt hardware with a software component to different customer needs, broadening monetisation channels. With the right infrastructure, you can create a fluid product structure that blossoms into multiple revenue streams just by adapting technology.

To get there, here are seven steps to monetise IoT models and gain a competitive advantage.

Step 1: Consolidate your software licensing information

In a manufacturing environment, it is essential to know what software is running where. From a business perspective, it tells you who owns what and ensures you’re on top of monetisation. From a customer perspective, it helps manufacturers provide a positive experience of helping customers understand what they have licensed, number of users, renewal needs and more. From a compliance perspective, a unified view helps guarantee compliance in highly regulated and controlled production environments and keep a high security level by analysing software for vulnerabilities and deploying software upgrades and patches. Furthermore, support cost and field service activity can be reduced by enabling appropriate remote diagnostics and maintenance procedures.

A central entitlement management system will help consolidate your software licensing information as well as offer other benefits. You gain a unified customer experience, even if different products still use unique license generators as well as a smooth transition towards Cloud and SaaS offerings. Other wins include a reduction in operating costs, up-sell and renewal opportunities, visibility into channel sales and overall insight into market dynamics.

Step 2: Identify the objectives behind IoT monetisation

Before you implement new models, a good practice is to take a step back and review your goals. Here are some ideas to get started when incorporating digital solutions:

Selling “use rights” instead of product is becoming more popular in the industrial automation industry. It’s a highly flexible model where the manufacturer retains ownership but can deliver different products through as-a-service models, including subscription, pay-per-use and pay-per-outcome (e.g., actual cars produced, scans taken). Some manufacturers offer hybrid models by continuing to sell the hardware while applying flexible monetisation models to the software only.

Step 4: Assess the operational efficiency benefits of software

Using different software components in standard hardware speeds bringing devices to market quickly while keeping manufacturing costs low. Manufacturers can produce different products on the same hardware chassis by adopting the right licensing models, which eliminates additional production and minimises inventory. Innovation also becomes easier since the same foundation can be adapted with software to become a different product. Evolving customer needs can also be met without requiring a swap out of hardware or other disruptions of their operations.

A software infrastructure also offers the benefit of continuous software and firmware updates, which are crucial for security, compliance and efficient support processes. It’s difficult to scale as you increase your customer base, the number of software products and versions or the frequency of updates. Without tight tracking of licenses, you also increase the risk of revenue losses up to 30% from customers receiving upgrades without maintenance, security issues from software vulnerabilities in older versions and high support and software development costs to support multiple versions and compatibility.

Step 5: Explore how to increase customer satisfaction

Because new monetisation models involve dynamic business information, manufacturers need to offer direct access, often called self-service, to customers for transparency and ease of use. For example, an intelligent device manufacturer who wants to lower costs by moving manufacturing to a 3rd party will need to understand their licensing to assess the impact. By enabling self-service information, clients can see what they have, what they are using and react in the best way.

Step 6: Strengthen security and IP protection

Security can be effective if it is designed into the product and applied in all the layers that make up the IoT. Since embedded software often uses Linux systems and 9 out of 10 IoT developers use open source code, it’s important to stay in compliance with open source licenses and manage vulnerabilities. Steps include identifying Open Source and third-party components, creating a Bill of Material and implementing permission workflows to register any new components before use and shipping.

Implementing the right software licensing technology also protects companies that outsource their manufacturing processes to third-party manufacturing shops from grey market abuse. For example, manufacturers can implement a “call home” to a cloud-based license server to obtain an activation license and make the device operational. If an illegally manufactured device tries to do this, it will not be granted a license and, in turn, will not function.

Step 7: Prepare your business

Since implementing new monetisation models requires operational change, it’s important to prepare your organisation. Product offerings will change with a focus on digital solutions, data and outcome. There will be new pricing and product packaging. Culture issues will need attention to help employees embrace digital offerings, different compensation and new processes in sales, support, field services and engineering. Customers may have the option to pay in a perpetual licensing model or a new flexible way, which offers flexibility and decreases the impact on cash-flow.

In addition to planning for process change, manufacturers should consider an automated solution which can manage the customer lifecycle, along with products and software use rights.

By taking these seven steps, manufacturing companies can successfully navigate the changes needed to embrace IoT and uncover an easier path to adapt products for new monetisation opportunities.

Every time you bring the camera to your eye, apply the many compositional rules that apply to art. But the word “rule” means one should abide by them. Herein lies the dilemma. What if breaking the rule makes the photo better or provides a unique twist? What if you simply feel like breaking a rule? I say, good for you. Go out and experiment. Think back to your high school science class when it was experiment day or you had lab time. Things would go up in smoke, turn different colors, make loud sounds or disappear. The immediate reaction was always a resounding WOW. Bring that feeling to your photography and create some WOWs of your own. Break the rules and experiment.

RULE: Don’t Aim A Wide Angle Upwards—It Creates Distortion. Fact—The wider the angle, the more distortion it creates if it’s not perpendicular to the subject. This being the case, take advantage of the distortion to create a unique perspective. Get close to a foreground subject to exaggerate its size, skew the camera as much as possible and exploit the falsified look. The foreground elements will lean, bend and may take on a barrel shape depending on how wide a lens is used. Incorporate framing into the composition to make a connection between the subjects. Intentionally underexpose the background and add flash to the foreground element to make it more prominent. Experiment and create a WOW.

RULE: Make Pictures With The Sun To Your Side Or Back. Fact—If you shoot into the sun, the light is contrasty and shadow detail is lost. Additionally, camera meters can be easily fooled, so it’s difficult to get a proper exposure. This being the case, make photos of subjects where blocked up shadows have no bearing on the outcome of the photo, and don’t worry about tricky exposures as meters in today’s cameras are programmed to ignore bright highlights. Besides, it’s digital and the results can be compensated for on the spot. Look for great silhouettes, colorful sunrises or sunsets, patterns that reflect the light and reflections of key compositional elements. Watch the nuances of how the light changes. As it decreases in contrast, make more images. Experiment and create a WOW.

RULE: Use The Rule Of Thirds. Fact—The rule of thirds dates back to the Renaissance painters, and it certainly worked for the masters. It evolved into photography because it works. This being the case, if you adhere to it ALL the time, you’ll never know if a composition can be improved if you ignore it. What’s frequently heard is never center a subject. It becomes static and no movement is depicted. The majority of the time, this holds true. If you place the primary subject in one of the power points, a pleasing composition is the result. But I encourage you to investigate all options. I’m often heard saying, “Exhaust All Possibilities.” The next time you head into the field, deliberately center the main subject but also place it within the rule of thirds. Compare the results when you edit the pics. If you already have tons of images on your hard drive, open some and crop the photo so the subject is dead center. Did it improve any? The answer may be no, but you’re guaranteed to never find out unless you try. Experiment and create a WOW.

SiteThe project is located in a rarely visited mountain village at the foot of the Siming Mountain in Yuyao, Zhejiang Province. The village rests on the edge of a secondary forest. a small river, dividing the village into two parts, slowly runs through from north to south. The tree house is located on the west bank of the lower stream. Two peaks facing to each other are standing on the east and the west sides of the site, where verdant bamboos are spread all over the hill, creating an amiable and tranquil atmosphere.

The tree house is 8-meter high, roughly equal to the height of an adult bamboo. It is divided into upper and lower parts. The lower part is composed of steel supporting columns; while the upper part is mainly wood structure. The tree house is located on one side of the dyke where is surrounded by ancient bamboo forests while facing the old tea factory across the creek. Part of the terrace is hanging over the streams, creating a sense of floating. Moreover, since the steel columns are huddled to several points on the land to minimize the impact on the environment, larger free space for ground activities is produced.

concept process

PlanThe wooden part in upper level consists of three non-concentric circles: the terrace overhanging the stream, the two-story guest room, and the undulating roof and terrace. The plan is a simple spiral line. A circle of the outer wall is integrated into the interior, separated the bathroom and the steps into the mezzanine away from the living space. Each window has a unique view to the outside, but the best part is to climb to the top of the roof and enjoy the natural charms of the mountains.

Features of the StructureThe roof and the walls are supported by fifty-seven giant trusses that vary gradually in thickness. The ostensibly soft roof not only helps outlining the elegant skyline, more importantly, the waving eave introduced the landscape into the room from the window and kept the privacy of the rooms.

model

The Functions of the RoofThe crude hand construction of traditional dwellings is different from fine production under standardization and industrialization. The fluctuating roof is not an arbitrary fantasy of the architect. The non-linear eave has extremely high error-tolerant rate, which can be considered as a respect of rural construction to natural laws. During the design and construction process, the architect remained close communications with local craftsmen to achieve a balance between the design form and local construction skills.

The changes of the roof defined the visual communications between the inside and the outside as well as the continuous gradient from the private to the public spaces. When the guest enters the terrace on the first floor, they will start to experience the circular sequence of spaces from the eave along the terrace to the connected interior: from the living room to the huge window, to the terrace of large depth and to the unwrapping roof to enjoy the view to the creek and the landscape of the mountain of bamboos; from the bedroom to the low window, to the falling roof to capture a good view when lying

The open bathtub and the high window at the side guaranteed the privacy as well as the satisfaction of views to the nature; the vertical window at the entrance to the bathroom is completely covered by the roof, ensuring absolute privacy without affecting natural ventilation; walking along the spiral staircase into the second floor, people can sit around the terrace and see the old tree which is almost two hundred years old through the fluctuating roof. The journey of experience ends at the terrace enclosed nu the roof at the second floor, where people can enjoy a sip of tea while being surround by the mountains.

Colin Kaepernick became the subject of controversy in 2016, when the NFL quarterback refused to stand for the U.S. national anthem in protest of racial injustice in the country. That, in turn, caused protests from those who felt Kaepernick’s gesture was disrespectful. Now this whole mess has managed to trickle down into the world of videogames, as Kaepernick’s name has been scrubbed from a piece of the Madden NFL 19 soundtrack.

Kaepernick is mentioned in a verse from Big Sean on the YG track Big Bank that goes “Feed me to the wolves now I lead the pack and shit / You boys all cap, I’m more Colin Kaepernick.” Naturally, the family-friendly game cuts the profanity from its version of the song, but it also completely mutes Kaepernick’s name in-game.

The cut was first noticed by jeanclervil on Twitter. (You can hear the original verse on YouTube at 2:14.) That was retweeted by Kaepernick’s partner, Nessa, and further responses from fans suggest the censorship goes back to the previous year’s game, as well – a similar lyric was cut from Bars Of Soap by Mike WiLL Made-it in Madden 18.

Exact details on what led to the lyric cut are unclear – we’ve reached out to EA for comment but have not received an immediate response – but there’s no escaping the negative impression this is going to leave.